RPlog:Battle of Trandosha
The Trandoshan System. Hell, it might as well be NR space considering just how close it is to Kashyyyk. This was the homeworld of the New Sith Order, and as such, a rather impressive fleet was present considering the relative youth of the military power. The Dark Presence was the pride of the Sith Navy and was by far the most intimidating in space. Its 900 meter long wedge shape cast a dark silhouette upon the planet below as it hovered in high orbit. Several fighter groups flew in tight formations, each designated by the different type of vessel flown. Slightly further out from the planet is the remainder of the Sith battle fleet. An older model Victory class, the War Hawk, cruised with a Strike Cruiser flanking it to each side. The oldest of the bunch though, would be the Ironsides. The old Imperial Dreadnought had seen action in multiple wars and was only recently rescued from mothballs by a Sith Liberation force. There were quite a few other smaller capital scale vessels, Corellian Corvettes mostly, and several full squadrons of various fighters roaming the system. It would almost, and I repeat, almost appear that it was but a standard day in Sith space. The key difference was that each of the NSO vessels that had shields had them up and all weapons were charged. Tension was a bit high amongst the crews as they knew a day of glory was upon them. The first sign of their arrival is the flight of recon vessels, small, agile vessels that appear on the very edge of the system. From there, they make their way closer to the system's main planet, and at the appropriate moment, a signal is transmitted. It is not long after that the main elements of the task force jump into the system, with Task Groups Valiant and Red Reef spearheading the attack. In quick succession, numerous capital vessels jump in, each force organizing itself around their respective mothership, the Republic Star Destroyer Valiant and the MC80 Red Reef. The bulk of the force's starfighters was already launched, but to cut down on accidental collisions, more had yet to be deployed. The Audacity was part of the former's group, detached from whatever duty it was assigned to and hurriedly rushed to the battle. On its bridge is Rasi, standing at ready and his attention focused on the sensors display screen. "Navigator, take us forward, let's see if we can strip away some of the smaller vessels.", though his voice is steady, something comes over his features as he looks at the ship's pilot. Nodding her head, Lieutenant Delamont glides her fingers over the navigation console. "Bring the NRCV Audacity slowly and alert the fighters and keep the Dark Presence in view." She murmurs and eases the ship forward moving her into range with something of practiced ease. That worried look from her Commander goes unnoticed for now. Siren adjusts the eyepatch a moment and lifts her head, the cap gleaming with its perfectly polished Pheonix of the New Republic. She draws a breath, keeping a close eye on the readouts of their positions. "Moving in quarter speed sir, ready to slow on your command." She glances back at Rasi and nods. This is what Marl Jace was waiting for. A forward and direct tactical assault, this was not one of those blue milk boring patrols where every one out of a hundred was an engagement. This is where the pilot would prove himself or die trying. His A-Wing, Falcon 8, glides effortlessly through the vacuum of space. The pilot is at the head of a formation of four A-Wings, configured for interception. His breathing is slow and calm, the grip on the controls fierce. Marl has never been this focused in his entire life, and the battle has yet to begin. "Stay on me, boys." Marl says with a wide smile on his face. "This is what we're trained for." Despite his excitement and anticipation, the pilot is disciplined. Falcon 8 and the rest of his wing stays in formation, waiting for the command as they rapidly approach the enemy fleet. As soon as the NR ships start popping into system, the NSO forces immediately open fire. It was an ambush, though with the forces spread out as they are, it was apparent that the Sith Fleet command hadn't a clue from which vector the Republic vessels would be arriving. The War Hawk and its twin Strike Cruiser escorts are ill positioned, and take precious time maneuvering to get into a proper line of fire. Fortunately, the Ironsides, the NSO Dreadnaught was close enough to open up with its heavy turbolasers upon the arriving forces. A squadron of R-41 Starchasers and MkII Interceptors begin engaging NR fighters trying to keep the enemy stalled long enough for the remaining NSO forces to move into a more fitting attack formation. Even given all his experience, it appeared that the NSO Naval Commander, Axel Vichten, had not thought out his ambush strategy overly well, at the very least he should have used the Interdictor, which had been so beneficial in the Battle for Nar Shaddaa, to force the enemy out of hyperspace at a more beneficial position. Apparently even those considered the best sometimes make mistakes. Having sat at the ready, the fighter pilots have been waiting for the signal. Such is the case for the pilot of Ghost 12, a youngish human male by the name of Krechev. Like those near by, he too keeps in formation, awaiting the time they're given the go-ahead and are allowed to do their thing. Perhaps a bit elementary in terms of planning, but keeping it simple did not necessarily hurt someone. The spearhead of the Republican assault directly engage the enemy already in the system. The Republican vessels almost as soon as possible, no consideration seemingly given to trying to land forces on the ground. The Valiant and Red Reef, escort vessels bringing up the front and back already open fire on their counterparts in the Sith fleet, heavy fire concentrated on the Dark Presence. "Audacity to Ghost and Falcon squadron, see if you can clear us a path through their vessel. They're worse designs, but that doesn't mean it might not kill you.", not exactly inspirational stuff, but that's just not the Fondorian. Falcon 8 takes command. He begins smoothly and calmly rapping orders into the comms and the A-Wings begin splitting up into two wing groups. He spirals out of formation, "Intercept those Mark-Twos. Keep them off our boys. Second Wing, keep your scanners hot, stay on our backs." It's with sweet release that the pilot finaly unleashes a volley into the fray. "Cut a path as best you can." A-Wings explode forward intercepting the fighters in an attempt to effectively create a clear path for the front of their assault. They are way faster than the X-Wings and get there a good time in advance. Sweat continues to bead on Marl's brow as he avoids near miss after near miss. Krechev smiles a bit as he nods, that going unseen as he's unaccompanied in the cockpit. "Alright..." He gets into the frey as best as he can but is beaten to the punch for the most part thanks to how he's not as good of a pilot as some of the others but he catches up eventually and works on carrying out his orders; not an ace by any means, he hits empty space more than enemy fiighters but he's able to keep the other pilots scattered, even if just marginally. As prepared as they had wished to be, the NSO forces just weren't in proper battle formation, giving the NR too many openings to exploit. Heavy damage was being sustained against their capital vessels at the hands of the Republic Destroyer and MC-80. Fighters were being taken out left and right, as if only the fresh out of training were at the controls. The Dark Presence though, was fairing better than the other ships amongst the fleet. It's shields holding steady as it delivered massive fire from it's port and starboard side weapon emplacements. After all, if every other ship of the NSO fleet was suffering, the notorious Axel Vichten wasn't going to lose the flagship of the NSO fleet. Not to a mere attack by some rebels. Still though, it was having trouble lining up and delivering broadsides as it was forced to maneuver in such a way to keep its higher strength shields between it and the enemy fire. Starlines emerge though, to the rear of the Republic forces. Another wedge shaped craft comes in, this time it is the silhouette of an Interdictor Cruiser. While smaller, and much more poorly armed that its counterparts, the War Hawk and the Dark Presence, the Dark Embrace was not there for it's firepower. It began to increase in forward velocity as it zeroed in on the NR fleet, moving into the rear flanking position just as it began keying up the massive gravity well generators. Maybe, just maybe, the commander of the fleet wasn't so ill-prepared after all. With the battle well and truly engaged, the final part of the Republican forces now enterred. Task Group Bluegrass, troop transport-heavy jumped into the system, its vessels for the most part not stopping to engage with the Sith forces. As soon as they are within range, the forces contained within are launched to their pre-arranged landing points, though some have to be diverted as even more shielded areas on the planet are discovered. "Pull up forward shields and bring the Audacity in at half the current speed. We need taht space clear before we open fire." Intones Siren aboard the Audacity's bridge, adjusting the speed level and letting the fighter's zoom past the viewscreen. The Lieutenant nods to the shield operations officer and then draws a breath. Her head dips and she blinks her one eye. She narrows her gaze upon the formation of the enemy fleet and nods, as if noting something and increasing the speed for a moment. Seated in the middle command chair, the tallest of the three on the bridge of the newly constructed Sith Leviathan-class Destroyer "Lying Dream", sits Aknar Koth'lyri, Thane of House Exodus and Grand Inquisitor of the New Sith Order. The bridge of the Dream is quiet as the tension among the crew runs high. Seated to the left and right of Aknar are two naval officers who occasionally give orders to subordinates spread out below them in the two command pits. Standing from his chair the black-clad Bothan strides forward to the forward viewport of the bridge and turns to the communications officer in one of the pits. "Well Lt. Commander, status?" he asks. The officer looks up to Aknar and replies, "Thirty seconds my Lord." Looking back down to the view-screen he remains silent for a half minute before looking back to Aknar and nodding. The Bothan turns to another officer and snaps his fingers. In space around Trandosha the battle rages on between the New Republic attacking fleet and the defending New Sith Order fleet. The defending New Sith Order fleet has their rearguard to the planet, facing outward towards the invading New Republic forces....until.... Suddenly the void of space behind the New Republic forces begin to change! Vessels begin to drop out of hyperspace, three large capital-class vessels make their first debut to the galaxy. The Sith Leviathan-class Destroyers, Lying Dream, Serapis and Desolous drop out of hyperspace at the center of a very large fleet. Surrounding these three technological beasts are 9 Loronar-Strike Cruisers which, in turn, are surrounded by an outer-picket of 12 Carrack-class Light Cruisers. While these new arrivals spell very bad news indeed for the marauding NR forces, the main problem....or shall we say, problems, can now be seen. From within the center of the fleet come a massive...swarm? That would be the best way to describe them...swarm of fighters. Easily recognizable in this large mass of fighters are 18 squadrons of TIE Interceptor MK IIs and 9 squadrons of Scimitar Assault Bombers. However, there are just as many squadrons of another type of fighter that few have ever seen...18 squads to be exact of the newly produced Sith Barb-class Interceptors. These never-before-seen fighters easily outpace their counterparts as they are clearly a much superior fighter in terms of speed. These ships race to engage the New Republic Forces. In fact, the entire New Sith Order ambushing fleet has come out of hyperspace BEHIND the New Republic Fleet -- their backs are facing the Sith! -- and speed toward the NR forces to engage them from the rear. Sadim Gnik arrives on the bridge and looks about, it has been a while since he has been on the bridge of this ship, but he recognises some faces. He makes his way over to the Shield Operationz console and leers over the junior officer handling it, "Lets avoid the holiday rush and I will take over here." After the New Republic soldier vacates his seat for Sadim begrudingly, the new Shield Operation's officer asks those around him, "So who are we fighting today?" If Falcon 8 were in a different position he might have noticed the emergence of the Interdictor Cruiser. But he's too much of a speed-junky, too into the moment to consider much of anything else. That is why he's an A-wing pilot after all, ducking darting and weaving as he overcomes slower fighters and destroys them. He lets out a hollar. "You should be good to .. wait, what is that?" His instruments begin to buzz wildly. A mark two screeches past the pilot, too close for comfort but something has Marl's attention. "Wing-One, Wing-Two - evasive manuervers. Turn about, head back to the Audacity!" "It's a trap!" It seems like a pointless thing to shout in the middle of a pitched and heated battle. It is certainly not something that inspires confidence in the pilots. Falcon wing disengages with the main fleet and immediately doubles back to the audacity. Their speed helps as they arrive just in time -- to be fired on. "As the reinforcements arrive, the hangar doors of the Dark Presence open and a swarm of fighters pours out. Dragon One was the first to zip out of the V2SD, Axel Vichten at its controls. Soon, an entire squadron of the new ships comes into view, missiles, ion cannons, and lasers alike flying from the small and agile space-superiority fighters. "Dragon One to Dragon Squadron," Axel says over comms. "Form up into three wings, attack formation delta-four." As he speaks, the fighters branch off into three seperate diamond formations with Axel's fighter in the lead. "Focus fire on Falcon Squadron, let's get their interceptors out of our hair as quickly as possible," he continues. Soon, the ships are moving full throttle towards the enemy fighters, slowly overtaking the A-wings, who during the height of the Empire, were the fastest ships ever produced. It seemed now that the A-wings were becoming out-dated and obsolete." Vectus lacks any strategical capability. He just did as he was told. Apparently there was some trap or something - he didn't quite know the details. Just that there would be invaders at Trandosha, and the Sith were to annihilate them. Several days ago he was introduced to his new starfighter, Blood 1, part of the new line of Sith Starworks starfighters - the Barb-class. An impressive craft, no doubt, a new contender in the field of battle, and today would be their first true test run. They would either prove their worth or fail and disappear into obscurity. But from the few hours of flight training he had underwent he already knew the Barb-class were going to make a big impact in the war. With the operation now underway, Vectus sits strapped into his cockpit, wearing a Sith flight suit. His Barb-class is at the front of the assault team - the group of Sith warships emerging from hyperspace behind the Republic fleet - at the lead of Blood squadron. "Vectus reporting in. Beginning engagement. All Bloods on me." The Barb-class starfighters accelerate into full combat speed, rapidly approaching the tricked Republic fleet from "behind". "Navigator, disengage us and turn around to meet the enemy, signal the nearest corvettes to follow us in. Gunships to the front and firing at any starfighter target that presents itself. Our bigger cruisers and carriers will need to maneuver to meet this enemy, the task is ours therefore. Ghost and Falcon, follow us in.", the instructions given, some to his pilot, others to the comm officer, and others still to the Gunchief, Rasi settles back, figuritavely of course as there is no sitting on a bridge. The cane he taps lightly on the metallic floor, already he is developing tics with his newfound accessory. The Republican ship is, as the cruder might put it, caught with its pants down. Though the Bluegrass' group was better positioned to meet the new threat, its selection of vessel might perhaps be its undoing. The Red Reef tasked with staving off any attempt by the already-present Sith to rejoin their companions and block off any avenue of access, the Valiant begins to slowly draw forward, intent on finding a way through and out of this sudden predicament. As the radars start screaming in alarm, Siren turns about and lifts up the view of what is behind them. "Commander Cen we have several ships coming in from behind. They are boxing out our escape." The navigator turns back to her console and stops the Audacity's further protection. "We need shields front and back now, reroute power!" She draws a breath. "Which do we engage, Commander Cen, I feel that we need to take on the incoming ships on our back." She recommends, still out of distance of their forward target currently. The blip and glow of her console fires up as she lifts her one emerald eye to narrow upon the scene. As the Commander speaks, she nods and is already on it. Gloved hands move without looking up. The Audacity begins to come about, sharply so to keep from coming into too close of range to the other ships. Lying Dream, Serapis and Desolous slowly become visible on the forward viewport, the Lieutenant looking up in shocked silence at the size of the Leviathans. The fighters snap in line as they disengage and re-engage. Marl continues his calm smooth chatter as he orders the flight around. A cry lets out in space somewhere, "I'm hit!" It's in vain, because there is not much anyone can do. "Keep it together, Falcon 3." Marl barks across the comms before falling back into his buttery voice in an attempt to keep stress minimal. A voice responds back to him, "Pressures good. I'm staying together." Falcon squadron forms up, their obvious targets the Dragons. Ghost squadron, on the other hand, designates the Bloods. Falcon 8 unleashes a volley into the fray, "Stay focused, target the leader!" In a matter of moments the fighters had engaged, disengaged and then suddenly reengaged. Marl's A-Wing whines in protest as he pushes it as far as it will go. His instruments whine and beep like crazy about the enemy positions. At least it didn't talk back like a droid. Shield Czar Sadim Gnik quickly taps the console he is using, almost without looking at it as he reroutes the ship's shields to more appropriately account for current situation. After he finishes assaulting the console with his fingers he states, "This frequency should be more effective" As Dragon Squadron moves to intercept Falcon, the Dark Presence and original Sith battle fleet move in, tightening the clamp. Several of the newly arrived Strike cruisers move to provide a screen for the Dark Embrace, the Interdictor Cruiser which was used to bring the Sith reinforcements into such a well-placed strategic position. Still though, the gravity well generators were emitting at full power in an attempt to keep the enemy from any attempts at escape. This was meant to be a slaughter, and a well played one at that. Sith Forces outnumbered the NR fleet, but not by much. The key to the battle was the superiority of their new vessels. The Leviathan was especially merciless in its design. While it's hull was a bit radical, it was highly functional and provided powerful broadside capability to just about every firing arc due to its odd shape. As the capital vessels all around engage each other, Axel is no longer in command of the main forces. He has placed himself in command of a fighter squadron, hell-bent on testing out the full combat capability of the new Barb-class fighters. "Stay focused men," he says into the comms. "The A-wings are damn near as fast and just as maneuverable. Keep them in your sights, don't let them behind you and above all else, if you can get a lock-on, take advantage of it." As he speaks, he fires off a volley of missiles towards the lead a-wing as his wingmen unleash hell with missiles of their own, each directed at a different target. "Something the matter, Lieutenant? If not, I believe you have a task to do.", not exactly chiding, but forceful enough to hopefully get through to the woman and whatever other crewmen were momentarily taken back by the sudden reversal. Already the order for the Marines to pull back was being sent out, the battle had lasted hours and just now was it enterring the commencement of its final phase. One that was going none too well for the Republic, the Bluegrass' group having taken critical losses as it was doing its best to screen the other two forces. And with the bulk of it being called off to try and get their Marines off the ground, it was doing its task none too well. Still, the addition of the gunship/corvette forces might help in holding off the swarm of fighters for just a bit more. The outer pickets of Carracks continue closing in on rear of the NR forces, following their fighters in. These vessels focus their fire on marauding fighter squadrons and smaller NR picket vessels, according to their pre-determined rules of engagement. The larger escorts, the Strike cruisers, begin to engage the larger NR vessels, including the Valient and the Red Reef. Onboard the bridge of the Lying Dream, Aknar stands at the fore of the bridge, looking out across the vista of his magnificent fleet. The Bothan hopes the Dark Lord's forces are faring well on the ground. Turing the Bothan begins to stride back across the command bridge to his throne-like chair. Saying aloud to no one in particular but everyone looks to him, he says, "Captain, my order to all Leviathans: Direct all fire on the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Red Reef, three full-power broadsides followed by a fire-fore-effect order." Pausing the Bothan turns and slowly lowers himself into his seat. "Fire", he says, finally. The space outside of the bridge erupts with light. Heavy Turbolasers, Heavy Ion Cannons and Concussion missile launchers, 330 heavy weapons emplacements altogether, open fire in one voice. Their beams and bodies of destructive force slam into the sheilds of the Red Reef, having a devastating affect on the surface of the vessel. A 20 year old design is just not made to withstand the firepower of that magnitude, as one of their famous Admirals once said. The shields of the aged MC-80 buckle and momentarily shimmer a blue-hue as they blip out, their projection transmitters simply overwhelmed. Their generators wont have the ability to bring them up ever again. Various points of the hull are pounded over and over again as the massive firepower of the combined fire of the Leviathans batter their exteriors. Slowly various flashes start blinking across the hull of the Red Reef. At first, one might not realize what is happening but slowly small objects start littering space all sound it, fleeing its massive form like bees from a fallen hive. Escape pods...the ship is breaking up. Explosions begin to rupture from the inside of the vessel, all along the hull, and finally with a massive fireball ship explodes, throwing debris and wreckage in all directions. Falcon 8 pulls up. It's quiet at first as Falcon lead tears through space. Pull. Up. Gambit crawls closer and he pulls back on the throttle just in time for the volley of missles to launch from the Dragon squadron. Marl doesn't even need to order evasive maneuvers, Falcon squadron takes his lead as they pull up and out in different directions. It could be considered beautiful were it not so deadly, as though a flower blooming with the A-wings as it's petals. Marl performs a barrel roll in an attempt to free up the missiles. It's somewhat effective, the onboard targeting jammer doing the rest of the work. Still, some of the explosions are far too close for comfort. Shields are hurt, but they're not hurt bad. Marl is still in this fight. "Falcon Three, stay on me. I'm going after the lead." Falcon 8 peels back around and fires a blast across the front of Dragon-1. Axel can't help but smile. The fighter with which he had a hand in designing, at least giving his guidelines of what he wished to see built were better than he could have imagined. It wasn't quite as fast as he had wished, but hell you just couldn't fit any more engine into the small craft without losing power from some other system. As his first salvo makes contact, there is a loud cheer heard over the comms from his cockpit, followed closely by the sound of bubbling water. With a very tight voice, as if he were holding his breath as he spoke, he called out over open comms to the NR fleet. "Bring your best, we need to test these birds of war out." As he finished, there was a massive exhale that caused a bit of static over the comms. Two wings of the Dragon Squadron banked, one to port, one to starboard, leaving the command wing flying straight. It was an attempt to hem the NR fighters in, maximizing the effects of cross-fire into the ranks of their enemies. As the two wings moved to flank at breakneck speeds, Axel dodges, ducks, dips, dives, and dodges incoming fire, pushing the small craft to its full limits. He did take a couple of hits, his shields flickering briefly but holding strong. It truly was an amazing fighter in the proper hands. He'd have to give a bonus to the lead technician in charge of their production. From the remaining vessels, S&R shuttles are sent out, their pilots used enough to the chaos of battle that they do as best as they can to drag in the escape pods, the same being done from the shuttles that escaped from the Red Reef. The battle is moving ever forward, to the left of the planet, but still forward so that the Republican forces have a chance of bypassing this interdiction field. "Mr. Gnik, if you would please, do something about these shields. I don't expect miracles, but if we could allow our colleagues to be collected in piece and hold up the main attack, I believe it would be well." Already the damage could be felt as sections of the ship had to be cordonned off and the crew there rerouted to safer positions. It was a testament to the skill of the vessel's engineers and damage control teams that she was still alive through this ordeal. The first troop transports begin to return from the planet, the Marines picked up in much the same manner as they were dropped, quick and without attention to formality. But instead of trying to rejoin the Republican batlegroup, the vessels instead proceed to jump right on away to the safety of Kashyyyk. With the Red Reef the first high-level casualty of the battle, its escort vessels make for the Valiant, its commander taking control of the situation as best as he can. Commodore Alexin's orders were coming in, the Valiant's CO taking charge of the battle and leaving little more than a shallow shell at the rear, everything arranged to the front against the Dark Presence and its compatriot the War Hawk. Sadim subtly plays with his console making some slight changes to the Audacity's shield. He tells Commander Cen, "This should improve things slightly, and more importantly confuse the enemy just a smidgen." He then goes back to tapping and developes a secondary frequency. "Okay sir, we should be able to switch between frequencies....one power distribution for attack, and then a we have a one to collect our ships in. I can switch back and forth depending how who close we have someone to redocking." He then silently goes to mad tapping on the console switching the frequency often as docking bays need to be accessible. The Lying Dream, Sarapis and Desolous begin to fan out in a claw like formation, their escoring Strike Cruisers, 3 per Leviathan, flank them on all sides. The 12 Carracks, 4 per Leviathan, follow as well. These three formations of ships move to surround the Valiant, their next target. The Marauder-class Corvette, Audacity, happens to be nearby and comes to their attention too. As the Leviathans move toward their new targets, the smaller NSO cruisers engage other Republic forces. Two Strike Cruisers on the right side of the Desolous along with two of their Carrack counterparts take advantage of weak shields on the side of a New Republic Nebulon-B Frigate that is near them. The shields buckle due to a flight of Scimitar Assault Bombers having just pounded their shields with a volley of warheads. An enterprising captain of one of the Strike-cruisers gives an order and the four ships shift formations slightly to present their best arc of fire to the Nebulon. Their continued pounding fire causes its shields to buckle and exploit a hull breach, causing the Nebulon to lose power and begin to break up. Not as spectacularly as the Red Reef did, but just as deadly. All over space between the two fleets events such as this happen. Picket forces of one side engage the other and each fleet begins to take damage and losses. Onboard the Lying Dream Aknar sits silently as his commanders execute their pre-existing rules of engagement as laid out before the battle. So far there had been no surprises. This is generally good for one side of a battle, and inversely bad for the other side. Occasionally the Thane would recognize an opportunity in the fight and make a note to either the officer on his left or right. An order would be issued and various NSO forces would respond to take advantage of the opportunity. On the other side of the engagement the 'older' NSO forces maneuver to try to keep the NR Fleet bottled up between the two opposing NSO groups. The Victory-class Destroyer MKII, Dark Presence, and the VSD War Hawk continue to be the main backbone of the older NSO group. The Dreadnaught Ironsides, having taken too many bombing runs by NR fighters has moved to the far side of the older NSO group, presenting its strongest shielded side to them, essentially out of the fight. Half of the Corellian corvettes are gone, or too damaged to continue. Out of all of the older NSO forces, only the 2 Strike cruisers and 1 Carrack remain in good shape (other than the two Victorys). The War Hawk's commander, not having suffered as much engine damage as the Dark Presence speeds ahead of the blocking group to put itself in-between the NR forces and the hold that has opened up in their screen. This Star Destroyer is the only ship, currently, that stands in the way of the NR fleet and a possible way out of this mess. The War Hawk begins firing its broadsides at the incoming NR. Axel pushes his fighter to the stops, the spice coursing through his system keeping him limber as he lowers the inertial dampeners in the cockpit. He had always prefered to fly by touch rather than relying fully upon automated systems. "Remember what I taught you boys, keep on them. We've all gone over the weaknesses of the NR Fighters." The Sith Barbs seemed to match each maneuver of the opposing fighter group with counters of their own. After all, who better to teach the NSO to fight the NR StarOps than a man who trained NR StarOps and led Falcon squadron for a while himself. As he gives out orders, he takes another hit from the special waterpipe built into his custom flightsuit. This was no Sith issue suit of clothing, but one of his own design. It was also a bit tight on him, as he hadn't worn it in years. He throttles back just a touch, maneuvers his ship a bit to port, and then pushes the throttle to full. The effect, an odd spin maneuver which pushes him up and behind the main portion of his command wing, but in near-perfect alignment with the lead A-Wing. He smiles, "Yeah, I still got it," he says with a broad grin as he unleashes another volley from the missile launchers. The going was slow, yes, they were pushing the enemy back and yes Alexin's gambit succeeded thus far in keeping the pressure off his main force. But it is a matter of time before the Republican formation was broken and the shell cracked. And Rasi sees this, as much as he keeps an eye on the Audacity's direct opponents, there is no option but keeping an eye on the broader picture. The broader picture, in this particular case, reveals an opportunity, one that might pass quickly. His mind is made up and he is shuffling forward, a slow shuffle the best that he can do and he steps up to the navigator's console. "Lieutenant, lay a course to this heading.", coordinates enterred into the console as he reaches above Siren's shoulder. With that said, he turns to the comm officer and a moment later he is on his side, a channel opened throughout the ship. "This is Commander Cen, execute Plan AR-12, I repeat execute Plan AR-12." Though drilled to near-perfection, it was a procedure the crew had yet to put to practice. The plan in question called for the ship to be evacuated, escape pods and shuttles, more of the latter as the hangar had no need to carry starfighters, made for. And with that said, the man makes his way back to Siren's station, a nod offered should she be looking towards him. "I will require your station, Lieutenant, join the rest of the crew in the evacuation after you lay in a course. And Mr. Gnik, if you could transfer shields control to my station." The Audacity, as it zoomed forward, making no course direction for the time being did appear on the radar of the nearest Republican vessels. Perhaps a few brows were furrowed as COs and XOs, or whoever was in command of bridges, wondered just what the Fondorian was up to. But none were as shocked as Commodore Alexin as soon as he received the coded transmission from the Audacity's captain. It took little time for it to be processed and understood, and with a nod, more to himself than anyone else, his mind was made up. "This is Commodore Alexin of the Valiant, all vessels disengage and make straight ahead. All starfighters are to make their way back on their own, there will be no time to pick up large numbers save for those with damaged drives. Search and Rescue teams are to independently make their way to Kashyyyk with as many rescued crewmen as possible. Good luck and godspeed, Alexin out." It took little time for the order to be obeyed, all across the lines, vessels disengaged, their shields reinforced at the rear to allow for less damage being taken. The Republic had taken a very heavy blow, but there was hope yet that what could be saved would. As the coordinates are entered into her console, Siren gazes over her shoulder towards the Commander. She rereads the coordinates and hesitates before pressing her lips together. She is laying in the course at her control station. Fingers brush over the console one last time and she brips the back of it to rise slowly. One emerald eye turns to look at the Commander and she salutes him. "Sir, if it would be alright, I would like permission to stay with you and see you out." She stands at attention, but keeps that one eye on him. "Sir, in all respect, sir." Lieutenant Delamont waits just to the side to allow Rasi to take her seat at the controls. Klaxons begin going wild in Marl's cockpit as the missiles make a direct hit. There's too much going on, too much fire and the Barbs are too fast for the pilot to dodge everything. A wild curse unleashes in the cockpit and his hands begin to shake. Not because of any clever spice addiction like some other pilots, but Gambit's nerves begin to fray as the orders come across the channels. That's when he does something unconventional, incredibly foolish and not exactly a tactic or maneuver often taught. Falcon 8 suddenly decelerates at an incredible rate as though the engines were immediately disabled. It twists and turns in place, its speed and direction purely inertial albeit rapidly slowing down. The nimble A-wing is now FACING Dragon-1 head on. In all accounts it's a crazy move, while the chances of getting a good strong hit on the pursuing fighter were good, the odds of the other pilot catching up and colliding before they realized what happens is even higher. Marl gambles on the skill of the other pilot to not get them both killed. Axel was a very skilled pilot, one of the best in the galaxy, but it was not a move he was expecting to face. "This guy has guts," he thinks as they seem to engage in a game of chicken. The shields on Dragon-1 shimmer a bit as all power is directed to the forward emitters. "Let's play," he says with a grin as he kicks in the afterburners. The ship was fast before, but it nearly jumps as it engages at its full speed towards the opposing fighter. Ion cannons aboard the craft spin to life, replacing the laser cannons as they rotate out of the hardmount position. He wouldn't get a full shot off this quickly, but after they passed each other, it was going to be interesting indeed. After all, using missiles at this speed and proximity would be suicide. The continued assault of the heavier Sith fleet takes its toll on the rear of the New Republic Fleet. As their forces scramble to follow their Commodore's orders, the Leviathans and their counterparts continue to dog the Republic forces. One by one slower, damaged vessels that are not able to keep up with their counterparts fall victim to the pursuers. A Corellian Gunship loses power on the far side of the fleet, slamming into the hull of a Sith Carrack Cruiser. The Cruiser's hull withstands the hit but the Carrack is out for the rest of the fight. A pair of fleeing Corellian corvettes succumb to the fire of the left-most Leviathan and explode in a bright fireball. New Republic Assault Frigate in the middle of their formation shudders after three successive flights of Scimitars followed up by a squadron of Barbs assault it with volleys of warheads. As its commander diverts shields to the fore of its vessel to protect the imbalance the two Leviathans, Serapis and Desolous, pour Turbolaser and Ion fire into the rear of the vessel. Clearly the fighters were coordinating with their larger brethren. The Assault Frigate begins to break up and more escape pods litter space. S&R vessels of the NR Fleet snag up a good many of the pods via their tractors yet some pods inevitably fail at their objective as they are randomly hit by various laser bolts, and debris that float about the space battle. The VSD War Hawk, stubbornly holds its position. One of the Strike Cruisers in the older NSO group takes a pounding from the fleeing Valiant and from several flights of B-Wings. Its shields buckle and a large hole ruptures in its fore hull. The Strike cruiser initiates evasive maneuvers and flees toward the planet, taking shelter behind the Dark Presence. The NSO group in front of the NR forces is further weakened by this act, making 1 Strike Cruiser, 1 Carrack and the two Star Destroyers their only obstacle now. Really though, its mainly just the War Hawk, as the other ships lag behind it, trying to catch up. "You will serve your colleagues well at the helm of one of our shuttles. Lieutenant, you still have a job to do, see to it.", Rasi says before taking control of the helm. While never a pilot himself, his skills were such that he would do the Lieutenant period save for the occasional miscalculation, the Audacity is placed on a course straight for the War Hawk's vulnerable underbelly. "That includes you too, Mr. Gnik.", the Caspian he was unfamiliar with, but who knows if he was one of those taken by romantic fancies. The corvette's maneuverability, fairly well for a capital vessel, is put to its best use and it flies by the larger targets in its path. What damage it could take is absorbed, and already the vessel is starting to reach the point of no-return, but that was to be expected. From its hangar explode the first of the shuttles, escape pods sent off and beginning to maneuver for either a quick pick-off, or for those with limited hyperdrive capability jumping off as soon as possible. The Audacity, though a small blip in the overall battlefield, is large enough that it ought to have been noticed, and its commander's intent deciphered. There is a tight lipped look upon Rasi before she nods and salutes, "Yes Commander." Looking back over the bridge a moment, the navigator begins to file in with the other officers from the bridge, heading for the turbolift. Here was to hoping that the Audacity would serve its purpose. Another glance is cast back upon Commander Cen before she enters the lift and the doors slide shut. Once the Lieutenant is aboard the Hanger Bay, she is taking up her assigned shuttle according to the plan. Watching her passengers board, Lieutenant Delamont waits to take off, strapping herself in and going over the shuttle systems and starting the engines. "Aaaa-" Marl begins to scream in the cockpit, transmitting across a short-wave open frequency that would pick up in Axel's craft. All power is shifted to the bow shields, as the A-Wing screeches. It wasn't intended for this kind of flight, warnings go off and screech but even they are deafened by the battle-cry of Marl. "-aaaaaaggh!" Before the A-Wing can recover from the suicidal tactic, Marl forces the afterburners and the vessel lurches as the engines struggle against what little inertial force is left. Suddenly Falcon 8 lurches forward and he spirals down, that is if the gate is down, away from Dragon-1. He immediately adopts a retreat tactic and screams over the comms to the rest of Falcon squadron. "You heard the Orders, now follow them!" The fighters begin breaking away and following procedure. Some are already at safe distances to jump, others not so much. Marl fights as hard as he can to escape. His A-Wing is barely holding together, the hull damage from his foolish move is beginning to mount and his shields are just about to fail. SF-9633 "Aaaa-" Marl begins to scream in the cockpit, transmitting across a short-wave open frequency that would pick up in Axel's craft. All power is shifted to the bow shields, as the A-Wing screeches. It wasn't intended for this kind of flight, warnings go off and screech but even they are deafened by the battle-cry of Marl. "-aaaaaaggh!" Before the A-Wing can recover from the suicidal tactic, Marl forces the afterburners and the vessel lurches as the engines struggle against what little inertial force is left. Suddenly Falcon 8 lurches forward and he spirals down, that is if the gate is down, away from Dragon-1. He immediately adopts a retreat tactic and screams over the comms to the rest of Falcon squadron. "You heard the Orders, now follow them!" The fighters begin breaking away and following procedure. Some are already at safe distances to jump, others not so much. Marl fights as hard as he can to escape. His A-Wing is barely holding together, the hull damage from his foolish move is beginning to mount and his shields are just about to fail. Dropping out of hyperspace as if on cue, Krieg leads the formation of Imperial ships into the Dosha system, the last known location of where the Dark Lord went. He's leading a four ship of Avengers along with two SKipray blastboats, a scout and a support shuttle. Moments later they are followed in by a lance class frigate, clearly their mission was to strike at a fighter type craft. However, initial scans and the appearant flashes of light in his viewscreen gives Krieg something new to consider. There's new sensor contacts never before seen, and this was total war. Thinking quickly he orders, "Raptor squadron, on me. The rest of you hang back and gather as much sensor intel and data on what is happening as you can." Punching forward he leads the flight of four into the fray to see who was here and what exactly was going on. Not to mention he was on full alert for the Sith Lord... Had it not been for comm chatter and new sensor readings transmitted from vessels on the outter areas of the battle, Axel would have pursued the a-wing which he had been toying with. Axel mutters a curse, using laser communications to Falcon 8. "I'm sure we'll dance again little one, but daddy has some Imperials to tango with." As he finishes, he switches frequencies. "Dragon Squadron on me. We have some unwelcome visitors who want a bit of a show, so let's give them one." With that said, he angles the sleek new fighter and engages maximum thrusters, reseting his shield frequencies in flight. The other barbs in Dragon Squadron close in and pursue the lead fighter in a bee-line straight for the Imperial scouting party. Onboard the bridge of the Sith Leviathan-class Destroyer "Lying Dream" the Grand Inquisitor nods slowly at the good progress the fleet is making. New Republic forces have sustained heavy damage thus far, losing numerous escorts and one of their line of battle warships. The Valiant, leading the way - out in front of the New Republic Fleet, close behind the Audacity, is now out of range of the Leviathans. The Bothan turns to his right, "Captain, direct all fire, from ALL Sith vessels in Group Beta onto the MC-90 Bluegrass." At once, my lord," the officer responds. Turning to look at the communications officer in the command pit beneath him he nods to him, the communications officer having overheard the order himself. His fingers press several buttons on the communications console and the order goes out. For a moment fire from the vessels of the Sith pursuing fleet stops as their weapons emplacements turn to direct their focus on the Bluegrass. Once again, weapons begin firing, pouring into the shields and various tactically important sections of the ship. A group of Scimitars being escorted by a flight of TIE Interceptor MKIIs zero in on the port hangar entrance, breaching the already weakened sheilds and manage to inflict significant damage to the interior of the hangar, putting its port-side flight operations out of commission. Aknar looks out the viewport of his command vessel, watching the results of his command. His high perception notices the Audacity at the fore of the Republic fleet obviously moving to ram the War Hawk. He does not bother to try to warn them, knowing it would be too late to do so. He simply watches for the eventual result of what is about to happen. Surprise washes over Marl's features as Dragon-1 disengages. "I never thought I would be so happy to see the.." a brief bit of static once more, "..ing Imperials. Falcon Squadron, continue your current heading. Put in the pre-designated coordinates, we're out of here. Let the Sith and the Empire battle it up. Hopefully we accomplished whatever we came here to do." Gambit casts one last glance to Trandosha as the fighter squadrons begin pulling away. Certainly he's no idiot, they performed such a rash move for a specific reason even if unkown to him. Ghost Squadron successfully disengages while the rest of the Sith move to engage the Imperial forces. They continue with the plan. By now, the Audacity makes its last course correction, the only thing needed to pump everything into the engines, time nearly every weapon on the ship to go off at the right moment and sit back. While on the ship itself, there is a cacaphony of noises, from the outside, though, the overwhelming silence of space and the light show might lend to this an operatic touch. The smaller vessel bears down on its larger prey, tip first and engines glowing as brightly as they ever have, though not even half the size of its prey and bleeding profusely from several points, the Audacity's commander hopes that it will be up to one last task. When he is certain that he has done his utmost, the man stands from his chair, his cane retaken from the back where it was hooked to, and calmly he walks to where the bridge's dedicated escape capsule is. "She was a good ship.", he says, to himself as there remains no one else to speak to, and a hand is laid on the nearest bulkhead, the show of this emotion, rare to those who know him, passes over him and he is soon enough stepping into the capsule, the entrance closed behind him. The force of the collision is such that the Audacity neatly scythes through the War Hawk, its tip barely breaking through the other side before it explodes rather violently. The strength of it such that debris is cast far and wide. The most important thing, however, remains that the way forward is clear and with everything applied to engines, the remaining Republican forces take advantage of the created opening. The zooming lights of dozens and dozens of vessels jumping to hyperspace soon follows, a path beaten to the safety of Kashyyyk, already its garrison warned of the fate that befell the attackers. Directing one of the last shuttles, Lieutenant Delamont watches the Audacity make her final leg towards the War Hawk. The navigator only hesitates long enough to watch it explode and she flinches a bit, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Nodding in respect to the fallen bird, she wets her lips and begins to press the plotted course into the shuttle. "May she rest in peace." The woman intones before lifting her one-eyed gaze forward. Grasping the controls, the shuttle lunges off into space, the stars becoming milky blurs before there is nothing to be seen.